Ming Dynasty: A hundred-year-old immortal cultivator, Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological father

"He was my number one general, a man of seven feet tall. He didn't get crippled on the battlefield, but fell to Zhu Xionghong and had his teeth pulled out. How can I not be angry?"

Zhu Di was very angry.

Yao Guangxiao was silent for a while, and said, "It has come to this point, getting angry will not help. In any case, the emperor should be wary of the King of Shu and Lan Yu. Once the seeds of suspicion are planted in the emperor's heart, they will not weaken, which is beneficial to us."

"Your Majesty, you should not be thinking about Qiu Fu now, but you should be thinking about the Qin King in Shaanxi. That is the first gate for us to enter the country!"

Zhu Di took a deep breath. Yao Guangxiao's calmness made him feel a little relieved.

"Well, the king knows and has already set up surveillance."

As if remembering something, Zhu Di asked worriedly, "Will something happen to that person from the Ministry of War?"

Yao Guangxiao shook his head, "No, I have already informed him that if necessary, he can sacrifice a pawn to save the chariot. At worst, he can divert the disaster to the White Lotus Sect."

Zhu Di rubbed his brows and said, "The most ruthless move I have made is on Tang Sai'er. If we can lead her to the White Lotus Sect, will there be any new surprises..."

Yao Guangxiao smiled and said, "If something happens to Tang Sai'er, it means something happens to Concubine Zhang. What will Prince Ning think at that time?"

"Prince Ning is very distant and defensive towards us in Daning, but what if something happens to his adoptive mother in Yingtian City, and Zhu Xionghuan is powerless to help?"

"Your Highness, we have to take one step at a time. Even if we take a step back, we still have Zhu Yunwen as our chess piece."

Zhu Di was stunned and looked at Yao Guangxiao in confusion, "Why?"

Yao Guangxiao said: "Zhu Yunwen and his mother will die at the hands of Zhu Xionghuan sooner or later. Zhu Yunwen will be fine, but what about Lu? If she dies, will Zhu Yunwen be able to watch it?"

Zhu Di took a deep breath, "Guangxiao, is this possible?"

Yao Guangxiao smiled and said, "Nothing is impossible. Don't worry, Your Majesty. We have a lot of cards in the capital."

"Lu will definitely die, and will definitely be linked to Zhu Xionghuan."

"it is good!"

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes, and the anger on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by a kind of calmness and confidence.

"My king, go meet the imperial envoy."

Yao Guangxiao nodded.

When Zhu Di walked out of the courtyard, he saw his eldest son Zhu Gaochi, gesticulating at several eunuchs who were holding plates of food.

Zhu Di walked over puzzled and asked: "Boss, what are you doing? Why did you ask them to leave? These dishes are for entertaining the imperial envoy."

Zhu Gaochi blinked and said, "Dad, why do we need such good food and wine to entertain the imperial envoy? How poor is our Beiping city?"

"Besides, are they worthy of eating such good food?"

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Good boy! You are more thoughtful than your father, that's right! Our Beiping City is poor, how can we afford to entertain the imperial envoy? Simple food and simple tea will do. You did a great job!"

………………

the other side.

Eastern Palace, Duanjing Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang lay in a rocking chair, enjoying the autumn afternoon sun.

Zhu Xiongying was holding a book and reading it with great interest next to the old man.

"What's the situation in Jiaozhi?"

The old man closed his eyes and asked Zhu Xiongying casually.

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and said, "It's all going on in an orderly manner. Grandfather Emperor, do you need to take back the governance of Jiaozhi?"

Zhu Yuanzhang opened one eye, then lazily closed the other, looked at the sunlight in the sky, and said, "I won't seek trouble for myself."

"I told you to deal with Jiaozhi, so you can make your own decision. After all, it's only been more than half a year. Let's wait and see at the end of the year."

Zhu Xiongying hummed, "Well, then, I will make the decision on Jiaozhi's matter myself, okay?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Subsequently,

As if remembering something, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "There have been floods in Henan, Shandong, Huguang and several other places. We have allocated all the funds that should be allocated. Now...what do you think we should do?"

As usual, Zhu Yuanzhang was teaching Zhu Xiongying how to view the country and how to govern it.

Reconstruction after a disaster is much more difficult than reconstruction during a disaster.

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and said, "My grandson thinks that we should send the various officials and the censors of the Metropolitan Censorate to investigate the disaster situation and then exempt the autumn grain tax accordingly."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Oh," and asked lazily, "Well said, are there any others?"

Zhu Xiongying didn't have any ideas for a moment after hearing this, and said, "That's all for now."

Zhu Xiongying looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with some curiosity.

He knew that the old man would say more than he did.

as predicted,

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke up the next moment, saying calmly: "Natural disasters and man-made disasters are always linked. We must strictly enforce the local government offices to prevent them from covering up their mistakes and underreporting."

"Many local officials would deceive the court in order to show off their achievements."

“When dealing with disasters, the first thing is to dispatch disaster relief when it happens, the second is to give benefits to the people when it ends, and finally, we have to consider the pros and cons of local officials.”

"All three aspects must be taken into consideration to avoid natural disasters and the man-made disasters that follow."

"No matter what, the governance of officials is still the top priority. Governing them is much more difficult than governing the common people, so no matter what happens, we must prevent it from happening."

It has been a while since the old man taught Zhu Xiongying any skills.

Hearing it again now, an inexplicable sense of familiarity and comfort comes back.

The old man is right. Natural disasters are actually not that scary. Although the Ming Dynasty court is short of money, it is still capable of dealing with disasters.

The scary thing is,
In years of natural disasters, some officials did not take action, and some officials and bad gentry were given the opportunity to annex land.

These things,
If the old man gave it a try, Zhu Xiongying would easily understand.

Because before, he had been to Jiangning County and seen the common people being fooled by the local gentry.

The inaction of the government, coupled with the wealthy and evil gentry in the villages, will become the straw that breaks the camel's back for the people.

This is especially true in years of natural disasters.

The contradiction between the people and the official class, as well as the contradiction between the people and the local gentry class, are still shackles on the development of the Ming Dynasty at this stage.

It is unrealistic to break this balance in a short period of time.

These ones,

Zhu Xiongying needs to change everything little by little.

……

The sunshine after the New Year is pleasant and the autumn weather is refreshing.

There is no blazing fire of summer either.

The sunlight shone through the shade of the trees, and the wine flowed on the old man's lazy and comfortable cheeks, making Zhu Yuanzhang, who was lying in the rocking chair, feel even more comfortable.

"I'm afraid the construction of the Great Wall in the northern border will be interrupted soon."

"The governors of Ningxia, Datong, and Guyuan all said that they were in Shangjing and hoped that the court would transfer the construction funds as soon as possible."

"The Ministry of Industry is having trouble getting the money, and the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have a better solution."

When he said these words, the old man sighed silently.

At the beginning, Zhu Xiongying envisioned opening up a Great Wall defense line in the northern border and sending war prisoners from Jiaozhi to build the city wall. All his ideas were good.

However, building a city wall requires not only manpower, but also woods, stones, herbal ash, etc.

The city walls of Northern Xinjiang are solid and are responsible for defense. They have to go through the baptism of war. No one dares to tamper with the fortifications of Northern Xinjiang.

Therefore,
The materials needed are all the best and most expensive!

But the problem is that the court is short of money now.

Most of the money from the post station was used to build inland roads.

There was not much left over from various expenses such as dredging the canal and military expenditures.

The tax silver of the imperial court,
Due to last year's snowstorm and the flood in June this summer, more focus has been put on people's livelihood construction.

As a last resort, Zhu Yuanzhang had to temporarily put the Great Wall fortifications in the northern border on hold.

Zhu Xiongying frowned and thought.

Lack of money has always been the main theme of the Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, Zhu Yuanzhang was unwilling to increase agricultural taxes, and on the other hand, he was unwilling to open up commercial taxes.

After the Ming Dynasty's ancestral precepts were finalized,
If this situation continues, coupled with the increasing number of royal clan members over the years, the financial situation of the court will become increasingly serious in the later period.

By the Jiajing period,
Emperor Jiajing had to allow Yan Song to secretly do silk business with Westerners to increase financial resources.

The family rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang have begun to show their drawbacks at the moment, but the old man is still stubborn.

Agricultural taxes cannot be raised any further. The only way is to adjust commercial taxes.

anyway.

Commercial reform must be completed before the old man passes away. Otherwise, when Zhu Xiongying really comes to power one day, countless civil servants will use Zhu Yuanzhang's family rules to suppress Zhu Xiongying, thereby restricting business and maritime bans.

I'm afraid that at that time, Zhu Xiongying would not be able to fight against God's will.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued casually: "From Gansu to Guazhou, there are often bandits on the official road who hijack food and grass."

"Hey."

The old man sighed again: "These hateful bandits, chase them, but you can't catch up, wait, and it will waste time and energy."

Most of the area from Guazhou to Suzhou is very desolate, with no village in front and no shop behind, making it an ideal place for horse bandits to rob people.

If the imperial court sent too many troops, it would undoubtedly increase transportation and manpower costs, but if there were too few troops, it would not be able to protect much food.

more critical.

After the Sino-French Treaty was suppressed by the old man, the Shanxi merchants had become so bold as to organize the people to plant less good land.

A lot of grain had to be transported from Huguang and Henan, which further increased transportation costs and losses along the way.

The longer the journey, the greater the chance of being deducted.

The local officials of the Ming Dynasty were so corrupt that even the old man could not control them.

The problems that have plagued the country for thousands of years have never been completely eliminated by any dynasty.

He thought about it and asked Zhu Yuanzhang: "If we select favorable places in Gua, Sha, and Sudai and use the Yellow River water for irrigation, can we open up some farmland?"

"In many places, we can recruit some refugees to go there, plant crops on the spot, and build villages."

"Because it is located in a remote area, we can also set up a military fort to ensure transportation along the way and deter bandits along the way."

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then opened them slightly and said, "This matter does have a chance to work, let's ask the six ministries tomorrow."

Zhu Xiongying hummed.

"By the way, Grandpa Huang."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked suspiciously: "What's wrong?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "He Guangyi, the commander of the Jinyiwei, has found the person who hijacked the tax silver."

Zhu Xiongying said: "According to the investigation report of the Jinyiwei, it should be the remnants of the White Lotus at the end of the Yuan Dynasty."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and asked, "It's them?"

Zhu Xiongying shook his head: "Something happened to the Ministry of War. This morning, Wu Zhiyu, the head of the Ministry of War, fell into the Qinhuai River. This is too much of a coincidence."

Zhu Yuanzhang touched his chin, looked at Zhu Xiongying and said, "So you were thinking about this earlier."

"Well, there are indeed some strange coincidences. You should investigate this matter carefully. The Ministry of War cannot have any problems. You must find the accomplice, but remember not to alert the enemy."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were somewhat harsh.

Zhu Xiongying knew that once he found the accomplice in the Ministry of War, beheading and confiscating property would be a minor matter. According to the old man's temper, if he touched the tax money of the country, he would definitely make the other party live a life worse than death!
"Grandpa Huang, don't be angry."

Zhu Xiongying said with a smile.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "I see. Isn't there still a vacancy for the Jinyi Tongzhi of the Northern Pacification Division? Do you know why we haven't found anyone yet?"

Zhu Xiongying said in astonishment: "Grandpa Emperor, are you waiting for me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Yes, I am waiting for you to promote him. No matter what official position I give He Guangyi, he will always be grateful to me. But I don't need anyone to be afraid of me or grateful to me anymore."

"You are different. You need to train a loyal follower. He Guangyi is the one I picked for you. He is very suitable."

"Grace comes from above, grandson. Your studies have not been in vain. You chose the right time."

"When rewarding He Guangyi, we must let him know why we reward him. Because he is obedient and capable, we can reward him."

"Why do the officials below fear the power above? Why do they even fear us, the pinnacle of power? It's because we can help them rise to power, and we can also help them fall from power in disgrace."

"Grandson, you must remember this principle. No one can just promote others blindly. You must make the people below respect you and respect power!"

Zhu Xiongying nodded solemnly.

These are the rules of officialdom.

This is also the law of human resources that applies to any group.

"Grandson, remember what Grandpa taught you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang hummed, smiled, stood up, stretched and said: "We have to go back. Lan Yu can't be locked up for too long."

Zhu Xiongying was delighted and said, "I'll send you off, Grandpa Huang."

After seeing Zhu Yuanzhang off, Zhu Xiongying returned to Duanjing Hall.

"Someone, go call He Guangyi over!"

After giving the instructions, Zhu Xiongying took a sip of the strong tea beside him.

Tea is addictive. When you start drinking it, you won't notice anything. A little more tea will taste bitter. But after drinking it for a long time, you will feel that the more tea, the more delicious it is.

While Zhu Xiongying was drinking tea, He Guangyi came in hurriedly.

When meeting Zhu Xiongying, He Guangyi remained humble and respectful.

"I am He Guangyi. I pay my respects to His Highness!"

"Your Highness, the head of the Ministry of War, Wu Zhiyu, is dead."

Zhu Xiongying pressed his hand and said, "I know about this matter. I have asked Yingtian Prefecture to transfer the case to the Ministry of Justice."

"What do you need me to do?" He Guangyi asked cautiously.

Zhu Xiongying looked at He Guangyi and said with a smile: "I need you to go to the Ministry of Personnel."

"what?"

Zhu Xiongying stood up with his hands behind his back and shouted, "Where is He Guangyi, the deputy commander of the Northern Pacification Division of the Jinyiwei?"

"I am here!" (End of this chapter)